Rose Blood (6 page)

She had Harry to consider now.

Yes, Harry… He was supposed to be a flirtation… wasn’t he?  A hot few sessions maybe. But she had already started to feel rather strongly for him. These past few hours had been far more than wonderful. It was like they were made for each other.

She turned round slowly and gently to face him, gazing at his familiar face fast asleep so close to her.  She had not been prepared for such an intense reaction to him and it scared her a little. Her workmate had suddenly become so very much more than that. And he already loved her? For years?  This revelation made everything so difficult and complicated. How was he going to take this DeVere business now, she wondered?

Probably badly, very badly indeed…

Chapter 10

They left the hotel suite at 6am the next morning and traveled back together to their separate homes to change for work. They were back in the office just before 8am and trying to get into their normal routine.

It was very difficult for the both of them sitting nonchalantly at their desks like normal as if nothing had happened. It was much too hard to be within an arm’s reach of someone they had made intense love to half the night and had an outrageous case of the hots for. The sneaky looks and occasional touch they could get in here and there were driving them both into a private love frenzy.  The space around them was so alive with electricity Rose could feel the sparks shooting off all over her.

She was scarcely able to read her emails as her mind wouldn’t let her focus on anything quite so mundane ….

Until one caught her attention. She certainly focused in on this one.

“I appreciate your obvious enthusiasm for whipping my assets into shape. I never expected such rapid growth so soon after placing myself in your hands. I can barely wait to see how you perform over the next few days. – Marcus   (Actually – I’m not sure I want you to hit the 3% for me, can you make it 2.9%?)”

She couldn’t help but snigger at his innuendo laden remarks, despite herself.

“What’s up Ro…” Harrison asked, looking at her closely. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh nothing much. Just thinking about DeVere and imagining his expression when he saw that fund increase!  I’m still waiting for him to reply…” Oh dear, she was lying to him already…

She quickly deleted the offending email.

“Mmm, you’d better get to work on that my hot little money honey… you need a lot of upward motion fast, it’ll take the pressure off” Harrison said with a big grin. “…  And Rose have I told you that you have the body of a goddess?”

“Sshh…. Harry! Not in here, okay?”

“No one will notice. In fact everyone’ll wonder what’s up if I don’t hit on you. I’ve been doing it for years!”

“Not too graphic then, okay? … and Harry, this little goddess is getting all worked up over your rather amazing god like body just now”

“Rose don’t… I’m getting all excited too.”

“Yes, men do seem to have a distinct disadvantage at times don’t they?” she smothered a little laugh as she finally pulled herself together enough to get some work done, running through her accounts one by one..

Out of the corner of her eye she saw another email appear from Marcus in her inbox.

“Hello Rose, If you do not have any prior arrangements tomorrow evening, I would like you join me as my guest at the Hilton at one of my company functions.   Please wear appropriate evening dress, long or short will be acceptable. I will send a car to your home address at 7.30 – M”

Oh no! This request would not go down well with Harry. Well there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn’t turn down his first offer. Work had to take priority at this early stage. She typed up a quick reply.

“Hello Marcus, I am available for tomorrow evening. Thank you for the invitation. 16c Cheshire Gardens, off Westleigh Avenue, Highgate – R”

“Harry,” she said hesitantly “I’m out with him tomorrow night. I’ve been summoned.”

“I already hate that Marcus DeVere…”

“I have to get on with this Harry. You know that, don’t you? And whatever happens, it won’t mean anything to me, okay?” She wasn’t completely and utterly convinced of that beyond a doubt, but it needed to be said just now. Harry certainly needed to hear it and she needed to say it to herself too.

“Look, I know you’re caught between a rock and a hard place, but that doesn’t mean I have to accept it… And I really, really don’t like it at all Rose.”

Chapter 11

The rest of the day passed in a blur. She was very busy with her other client’s accounts and spent most of the day on the phone talking to them. The markets were absolutely dead today but thankfully there was a bubble of activity in her US stocks late in the day which thankfully helped her to add a further 0.3% to DeVeres account by the time she was ready to leave.

She typed up an account message and sent it to DeVere..

“Fund position 1.53 billion, +0.3%  today, +2.0%  on week compound – R”

Harry had finished a while before and had gone ahead with Dec, Nick, Fridge, Epic and Keiran. He was waiting for her downstairs in the usual spot. She headed off fairly content with the day and her goal still in sight. She had another three days to make 1.0%… it was still possible… she was going to have a little bit of fun tonight, and she knew just the person to do it with.

Mike called out to her as she left the office.

“Ro, just took a look… you’re doing bloody well. Keep it up and don’t forget the other stuff, it’s just as important as percentages…”

She scowled at him and walked out of the door. That had instantly riled her up. Why did he have to rub it in her face? He really was a nasty piece of shit.

She left the building and crossed the Plaza in a now rather foul mood. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant evening and the traders were all inside and up at the bar. Her eyes fell instantly on Harry and Sam. She was draping her arms around him, pressing herself against his side. That feeling was back again, in a huge dose. Things were so different now. Her stomach churned at the sight of them together and a large green finger of jealousy poked her in the chest. She couldn’t actually barge up to him and claim him at the moment. She wanted to keep their relationship secret for a while, to see how it went, before the animals she worked with chipped in with their vile and disgusting views about it. She heard what they said about Sammy, it wasn’t pleasant… She hated the way women were viewed by some of these men…

She stood next to Declan, one of the Proprietary traders and had a forced cheerful chat. She didn’t much like Dec. He was the worst of them all with his deep gutter language and degrading office behaviour, not to mention the dreadful things he got up to behind his wife’s back on a regular basis, but he was standing the farthest away from the Harry and Sam live act. That’s where she needed to be at this moment. She turned her back on them and engaged Dirty, as he was also known, with all the enthusiasm she could muster up, telling him a little about her new fund.

After a few minutes Harry was there at her side. Her heart warmed instantly with relief.

He whispered in her ear. “Miss me?” and she laughed and immediately forgave his little Sammy moment. It wasn’t like he could do much about it anyway, not without being too obvious. They carried on chatting to Dirty and the other guys for a while, mingling separately and being as disgustingly loud and lairy as the others … as normal as they could be.

An hour later they left, individually a few minutes apart and were now heading back to her place in a cab. They sat holding hands, kissing and grinning like Cheshire cats at each other all the way back.

“This is going to be so difficult Harry.” She admitted. “My no sex rule made life much simpler”

“Why is it going to be difficult?”

“You and Sam, us sitting together all the time, keeping secrets, my new problem account…”

“Whatever happens with Sam doesn’t mean anything Rose. I’ve been with her like half a dozen times before and it never did then either. I don’t plan on sleeping with her anymore obviously!”

“I felt more than a little jealous tonight, when I saw you together.” She really had found that little smoochy cuddling scene quite hard to take. Little Sammy’s fingers winding their way through his gorgeous silky hair like that…

“Not as jealous as I’m gonna feel when you’re out with bigshot tomorrow Rose, think about that!”

She had already thought of that. Quite a lot. She didn’t want him to feel bad about what was going on with DeVere. It wasn’t her choice to make, but even so… She could appreciate how awful it would feel if the roles were reversed and he was wining and dining with a sexy and beautiful billionairess who might want to have a lot of fun in the bedroom with him.  She would feel very insecure and second rate… and actually completely desperate about it. It made her incredibly upset and guilty about everything. What a dreadful situation for them both.

They arrived at her place, paid the cabbie and went inside.

“Are you hungry… want anything to eat Harry?” She asked thoughtfully as he stood looking around her flat. She wasn’t about to cook a meal, but could throw together a quick sandwich or something.

“No, you’re the only thing I want to eat babe…. wanna show me your bedroom?”

“It’s just in here” she murmured taking his hand and leading him into her bedroom.

He pulled her close and kissed her nose.

“D’you want to eat me too? I’m quite tasty you know?”

“That’s an understatement if I ever heard one… I think we should start eating each other right now”

He pulled off her clothes and she dragged off his in a rough hot rush, they were glued together tightly in seconds, eating each other up. Their private feast lasted into the early hours. Real food was forgotten completely. Rose was feeling far more than lust for Harry, she had a very strong feeling swelling inside her tonight. It felt like someone had slipped their hands inside her chest and was holding her heart tightly, squeezing it over and over… Harry had taken over her mind, heart and her body in one short day. How could this have happened so fast? She would keep this to herself for a little while…

Chapter 12

They arrived separately in the office the next day. Harry had left a half hour in front of her so he could go home and change. He lived just four stops away from her on the underground. She arrived first and made a start on her accounts and emails before his presence made it impossible to think, breathe or read a word.

Harry arrived soon afterwards, looking wonderfully smart and fresh and a tortuous day of love-lust-love-lust began. She was completely love struck if she was to be honest with herself. It was amazing her just how heightened her senses had become and how her heart and stomach ached with want every time she thought of him or looked his way. She couldn’t ever remember feeling this overwhelmed by her previous boyfriends. Perhaps she hadn’t loved them much, or at all…?

Maybe it was just their constant close proximity to each other in the office…

Her face and neck were permanently hot and flushed. Rose thought that she may as well have a sign pasted on her forehead which read “Loved Up & Hot for Mr Gorgeous” and an arrow pointing his way… She couldn’t feel any more obvious to everyone around her. How she got through the day without dissolving into a pool of love on her chair was a mystery to her.

Harry headed off to the gym at 4pm in a quiet mood. He planned to run on the treadmill until he was exhausted, hopefully his brain would be too. He felt uncomfortable and miserable and insanely jealous about the whole DeVere thing. In truth, he would like Rose to leave her job right now and find a new one elsewhere, so they could get together properly and she wouldn’t have to deal with DeVere anymore. But he couldn’t suggest that, not yet. It was too soon.

She sent Marcus his daily results. A good 0.4% today, 2.4% on the week. There had been a rapid increase in the diamond stocks, she was pleased she had spotted that bit of news a few days back. One of the rumored mine closures had occurred and a tiny increase in the stock pricing had moved her fund up 0.3% of her day’s total. She had been extremely lucky so far with the progress. It wouldn’t grow anything like this normally, she knew that… this was just a temporary flutter in the new markets she had picked, coupled with some good trending decisions she had made.

She wondered if Marcus would be pleased she was nearing her 3% goal. Despite his joking with her about only hitting 2.9% so he could get access to her on demand, she was absolutely sure that money was the driving force in his life. The more the better. Why he needed any more was a mystery to her in truth. He could never spend all that he had, surely?

The on demand issue would be a real problem now if she didn’t meet her target. She just had to get there.

She shut everything down and tidied her desk and left for home. As she got on the DLR she thought she would stop in Stratford Westfield shopping centre on the way home and pick up a new dress. She had a few at home, but nothing smart or special enough for a Hilton do with a billionaire. She wanted to make a much better impression this time, rid his memory of that disgusting suit! Why on earth did she feel the need to look good for him? She told herself it was simply a matter of pride in her appearance, but she knew deep down inside there was another reason she didn’t want to think about or even admit to, especially not now.

Chapter 13

Later that evening, she had just finished getting ready and had put on her new shoes when she heard the door buzzer sound. The car was here a little early. “I’ll be five minutes” she announced in the intercom.

“Rose, would you mind letting me in please” a familiar voice spoke back.

“Oh, Marcus… Ermmm… Okay… Come up to the second floor” She pressed the entry button. Oh no! HE was here? Now?  She thought she was being picked up by his driver… Her rather modest flat was quite untidy. She wasn’t the most organised of housekeepers at the best of times… She had left rather quickly that morning, she hadn’t bothered to titivate or even make the bed. Tonight’s clutter was all over the place. She gathered all the mess up in two armfuls and shoved it in the bedroom and shut the door and quickly arranged the essential pieces in the room. It was just about decent now. She stood behind the front door until she heard his footsteps outside and opened the door to let him in.